Forgiveness
by neverlandisaplacefaraway
Summary: After Sweeney's death he discovers the truth about his feelings. One shot.


_**A/N – OK, so I saw these pictures of Imelda Staunton and Michael Ball and they were really sweet and upset because Sweeney Todd is in its last few weeks. So I was a bit inspired to write this story. The story is based on the 2007 Tim Burton film.**_

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing, please don't sue me.**_

_**Pairing: Sweenett/Toddett & SweeneyxLucy if you squint and tilt your head to the right.**_

_**Enjoy and please review xx**_

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Sweeney felt his life begin to seep away from him as each drop of blood cascaded from his open throat. The sharp cut had been invited. Sweeney Todd had heard the light tread of Toby's steps before lifting his head to allow the small boy to bring the blade across his neck. He had wanted to die; he did not want to live with the guilt of killing his wife in cold blood. In this moment he felt more like Benjamin Barker, the guilt of leaving his Lucy overwhelmed him, before quickly being replaced with the guilt of murdering her. Sweeney felt a damp sensation cover his face as tears began to roll down his face. He felt darkness completely surround him before his head drooped forward and his life entirely left him.

They say you see a light at the end of the tunnel. You're told to walk towards it if you want to reach heaven. But Sweeney Todd was not going to heaven. Sweeney watched as his darling Lucy took her sweet steps towards the light. She turned towards him and extended her hand to him.

"Come on Benjamin." Lucy said her lips pulled into a smile. She continued to walk backwards towards the light before her body was covered in long shafts of light that blinded Sweeney. Once his eyesight was restored he saw that she had disappeared. Sweeney began to run, his feet bashing into the ground as he headed towards the light. The light was in touching distance; Sweeney extended his hand to reach the light.

His body flew backwards and he fell onto the ground in a heap. The dark tunnel disappeared as did the light along with it. The vision disappeared in a smoky haze. Sweeney became aware of his surroundings. He was back in the bake house. He was sitting on the cold stone floor. It was stained with blood and he the smell of rotting carcasses seeped up his nostrils.

Sweeney picked himself off the ground. Was this hell? Was he doomed to spend an eternity in the place where he had been killed, where he had discovered his wife's dead body?

"No." Sweeney said. He whipped his head around the room desperately trying to find escape. The place where the door used to be was now nothing more than a dark wall. Sweeney ran towards it and bashed his hands against the wall. Screams escaped his lips. He became angry and smashed his fist into the wall. He felt no pain so continually punched the bricks.

Sweeney didn't know how long he had stood there before he felt a light tap on his shoulder.

"It's no use Sweeney." Sweeney heard the quiet voice, it was shaking with fear. Sweeney turned around and saw Mrs Lovett standing there. Her dress was now a charcoal black and her hair was lightly singed. But her face had remained the same. Her big sunken eyes were still watching him as intently as they had before her death.

"Mrs Lovett?" Sweeney asked in confusion before moving directly in front of her. He was taller and was looking down at her. His stare was uncomfortable and he felt a mixture of anger and guilt overwhelm him.

"I'm sorry." Was all Mrs Lovett said before she began to back slowly away from him. "I shouldn't have lied."

"What's done is done. But I will never forgive you." Sweeney said before letting his back slide down the wall. Once he was sat on the floor he looked up at Mrs Lovett. Tears had begun to drip down her face.

"What is the matter, Mrs Lovett? You're dead. We all deserved to die, you even more than others." Sweeney shouted before letting his gaze remain stuck on hers.

"All I ever did was love you. I treated you with respect; I did whatever you told me. I loved you." Mrs Lovett screamed, there was no point in keeping it in now. They were dead after all. Sweeney looked at her with a mixture of shock and sudden realisation.

"Of course you did." Sweeney said to himself. "Of course you did." Sweeney began to pull at his trouser legs. Trying to release any sort of stress. He felt the fabric tear and let his trouser leg go and instead allowed his hands to fling through his hair. He continually pulled strands out and let them float to the ground.

"Why me? Why do I have to spend and eternity in a room with her." He shouted to the still air. Sweeney's hand punched the floor, before he let out a loud scream.

Suddenly he felt fists bashing into his chest. He heard sobs beginning to escape. Sweeney's head whipped up and he saw Mrs Lovett attacking him. All it took was for Sweeney to raise his hand and catch her wrists in his grasp for her to stop. Mrs Lovett looked up at Sweeney, her eyes blotchy and red.

"All I ever did was love you." Mrs Lovett whispered. Sweeney's grip loosened as realisation came crashing down. His mouth opened and he began to stutter his apologies.

"I never knew." He managed to blurt out. Mrs Lovett's face clouded over in confusion. "I never knew." he repeated before bringing his eye line down so that it was stuck on the stone floor. The floor was stained with blood from the numerous times that the pair had baked people into pies. Sweeney had never helped her but he had one watched from the doorway. He'd watched as she brought the meat clever down on the man's arm. He admired her ability to continue this act effortlessly without even flinching as the blood splattered into her face. She was a dark angel. His dark angel. And yet he had failed to notice her impending feelings towards him. He had never listened to her futile attempts at grabbing his attention; but now memories seemed to come flooding back to him.

He remembered her desperation as she had kissed his cheek multiple times telling him of her dreams to live by the sea. Her arm clutched around his shoulders as she lead him down to the pie shop after his ordeal with Pirelli. She had cared for him, come up with the master plan to place the bodies in the pies; where nobody would dare to look. He remembered everything in clearer detail. It was as if a fog had been lifted and he finally saw Mrs Lovett for who she was. His saviour. Yet he felt the knowledge that it was too late weighing him down.

"How could you not know?" Mrs Lovett gasped; her tears were racking her body. She was now kneeling in front of him, her hands precariously balancing on his knees as she leaned in towards him. "How could you not see it?" Sweeney felt sympathy flood him, he could also feel guilt bubbling up inside him as he realised what he had done to the person who had helped him the most.

"I was so caught up in my revenge I just didn't look to see if there was anything else." Sweeney whispered.

"You were so caught up in your revenge that you didn't see that your wife had left you…or tried to. She gave up Sweeney, just like you gave up on Benjamin Barker." Mrs Lovett said, her eyes becoming darker as she became angrier. "The minute you left Benjamin Barker was the minute you should have left your dear Lucy. They were a part of the past you wanted rid of." She took and exasperated breath before sitting down properly and slouching forward. Mrs Lovett began to fiddle with the hem of her singed dress.

"Nellie." Sweeney said quietly. He lifted his head up so that they were looking at each other. "Nellie Lovett. I didn't want to forget my past, because that would mean forgetting some of the times we had spent together."

Mrs Lovett's face became brighter and she let a small smile creep up her face. She watched Sweeney intensely as he edged forwards, swinging his legs behind him so that he was on his knees in front of her.

"And forgetting you would be a horrible experience. How I have lived without you all these years I do not know." Sweeney said as he let a hand cup her cheek and pull her head closer to his. "I only wish that I'd realised it sooner."

Sweeney moved his lips towards hers, lightly touching her lips with his. The kiss started off as a tender declaration of love, before becoming more heated. The passion began to overflow and soon Sweeney was winding his fingers through Mrs Lovett's hair. Their mouth's moved against one another and they allowed themselves to become coiled around one another. Sweeney lifted his head back from hers and looked into her eyes.

She was smiling up at him, her doll like features unmoving as he moved his hand away from her hair. Pieces of red hair fell into his hands and he watched in distress as the hair on top of her head began to burn away. Mrs Lovett raised a hand up to him, her fingers splayed. Sweeney saw a small crack appearing in her hand and watched as it worked its way up her arm. As it reached her face she uttered;

"It's too late Sweeney, I'm already gone." Mrs Lovett broke into several pieces, as if she was a china doll. Her porcelain skin fell onto the floor in a heap and Sweeney watched in shock.

Before he had a chance to react he felt pain illuminating from his neck. He brought his hand up to clutch his neck and felt a damp sensation there. Lifting his hands away from his neck he saw blood trickling down his arm. His body fell forwards and all of a sudden he was back to where he had begun, his head leaning against his dead wife, the smell of Mrs Lovett's burning skin still hung in the air.

"I'm sorry. I love you." Sweeney managed to rasp out before his last breath escaped his mouth and he slumped on the floor, his last memory of Nellie Lovett's lips against his still remained in his mind.


End file.
